Ross County manager Don Cowie was a breath of fresh air in his praise of Celtic post-match this afternoon.

The Scotsman was unable to lay a glove on the Hoops at Celtic Park but spoke very highly of the performance he witnessed in the first half.

Instead of blaming a financial gulf between the sides, Cowie instead chose to talk about how much Brendan Rodgers’ side impressed him.

He said (Sky Sports), “We felt the full force of a really good Champions League team who are holding their own, performing excellently domestically, and there was a 15-minute spell in the first half where we couldn’t live with them.”

Cowie was open and honest.

At times, coaches in the Scottish Premiership look to make excuses, but instead, he spoke about what he saw: a Champions League-level Celtic side who are absolutely flying under Rodgers’ leadership.

The Scottish coach did not get his tactics right in the first half, but in the second, he was able to stop Celtic from scoring as freely.

However, he is understanding of how well Rodgers is doing at the Hoops, with the team now reaching levels that Celtic supporters could have only dreamed of just nine months ago when they were dropping points at home to Kilmarnock.

With players like Liam Scales and Adam Idah coming into the side this afternoon, they gave their all in an opportunity to prove why they deserve to start more often, having fallen out onto the bench in recent weeks.